A lot of baseball happens on a weekend. This time, the Yankees’ superstars saw it crushed in the Bay, the Brewers tightened their grip in the NL Central, the White Sox had fighting words off the field (but not many of them on the diamond), and the Mariners sound serious about resolving their issues. their hitting problems.
Here’s what you need to know from this weekend in the MLB.
No one in the MLB has more wins than the New York Yankees (42). And that’s because the Bronx Bombers rolled into San Francisco and bullied the Giants with dominant performances from their superstars. It was baseball’s equivalent of a brutal noogie.
The series was defined by the storyline of Bay Area kid Aaron Judge playing his first career games at Oracle Park after his dramatic free-agent frenzy broke the hearts of Giants fans (think Arson Judge). The big man stole the show in the opener, hitting some big flies to help the Yankees to a 6-2 win. But the next day was truly unforgettable.
In the first inning of Saturday’s game, Judge annihilated a Logan Webb changeup for a 450-foot supersonic monster shot, sealing another Yanks victory.
San Francisco entered the ninth inning on Sunday with a two-run lead, with a chance to salvage the final. Crucially, however, the Yankees employ Juan Soto. After an Anthony Volpe triple cut the lead to one, Soto hit a grooved Camillo Doval heater into the right field seats for a one-run lead. It was a Murphy’s Law weekend for the Giants and their fans.
The Yanks head home after a highly successful nine-game trip to California – they went 7-2 – for a series against, who else, their all-time punching bag: the Minnesota Twins.
Brewers take advantage of the collapsing Cubs with a series of woeful White Sox
Milwaukee took care of business against the woeful White Sox in one of the weekend’s three sweeps. After a 23-hit barrage in the opener, the Brewers defeated the White Sox behind solid pitching in the final two games from rookie Robert Gasser, ace Freddy Peralta and a lockdown bullpen. That makes five straight wins for Milwaukee, which, in addition to the Cubs’ recent nosedive, has given the Brew Crew a solid seven-game lead atop the NL Central.
The return of Rhys Hoskins from injury a few days ago will only benefit the Brewers’ strong offense as Milwaukee heads to Philadelphia this week for a scintillating showdown between two of the circuit’s best clubs.
The White Sox, on the other hand, are a catastrophe covered in disaster, wrapped in disaster and baked in debacle. They have now lost eleven straight baseball games and are the worst team in the MLB by a significant margin. At 15-45, Chicago is on pace to finish the season with 40 wins, which would tie them with the 1962 New York Mets for the lowest winning percentage in the MLB expansion era.
Things got particularly strange Sunday after fearless outfielder Tommy Pham tried to take on Brewers catcher William Contreras on a play at home plate. Things got relatively cheerful on the diamond, but the 36-year-old Pham – who is almost certainly trade bait for the Sox – took it to another level during his post-game media availability by referencing his offseason fighting regimen.
The 2024 White Sox are a unique experience.
“There’s a reason I do all kinds of fights in the offseason. Because I’m willing to kill someone” -Tommy Pham pic.twitter.com/REBPGPj5BX
— CHGO White Sox (@CHGO_WhiteSox) June 2, 2024
Expect the Orioles to be active on the trade market after losing two huge arms
Baltimore general Mike Elias dropped a bad news bombshell on Friday afternoon, announcing that two of his team’s pitchers, John Means and Tyler Wells, would undergo surgery for torn UCLs. For Means, who underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2022 but has struggled to return to play, it’s a particularly cruel blow. Wells initially left for Baltimore, but would likely move to the bullpen at the end of the summer. The double whammy increases the chances of Elias acting aggressively at the trade deadline.
In the short term, Baltimore must move on from the top 13 pitchers already in the organization. That task started well against Tampa on Friday when 36-year-old journeyman Albert Suárez delivered five strong frames in a victory. On Saturday, the Birds hit four long balls in a 9-5 win before the Rays bounced back with a comeback win on Sunday.
It’s not surprising that Baltimore can really hit, but how the Orioles build their solid, non-dominant pitching staff in light of these recent injuries is crucial to their long-term success. Good to see Craig Kimbrel roaring again; the future Hall of Famer has steadied the ship with eight scoreless clean sheets after a very difficult start to May.
Will Mariners firing of batting coordinator turn things around at the plate?
It was a strange weekend in the Pacific Northwest.
Seattle defeated the hapless Angels because, surprise, surprise, the Mariners’ starting pitchers didn’t allow a single earned run in 20 innings. That’s how the Mariners do it. This rotation is downright dynamite, potentially historically good when it’s all done and dusted.
Bryan Woo, still on a strict pitch limit, cut Friday. Bryce Miller, the lanky flame-throwing Texan, knocked out nine Halos on Saturday. The reliable Luis Castillo scored seven goals on Sunday. Ho-hum stuff for the M’s.
As good as Seattle has been on the road, they’ve been terrible in the batter’s box. The atrocious nature of the AL West has shrouded the Mariners’ offensive ineptitude, but boy oh boy is it hard to see this team getting hit. The Mariners’ struggles culminated in the firing of team “offensive coordinator” Brant Brown on Friday afternoon.
Brown was brought in this offseason to help the Mariners end the strikeout and increase contact. But through two months the club is hitting .223, which is not something good teams do.
It’s rare for a first-year coach to get hammered after just two months, so keep an eye on Seattle’s offense to see if there’s any meaningful change.
Tigers split with Red Sox, sending No. 1 draft pick Spencer Torkelson to Triple-A
Detroit has been treading water lately in a surprisingly competitive AL Central. Kansas City and Cleveland have been spectacular, while Minnesota’s rollercoaster season is back on the rise. But the Tigers, now a game under .500 after a four-game split at Fenway, were the epitome of meh. Not good, not terrible, just plain old mediocre.
And while there were some clear positives – Jack Flaherty was sensational again and main man Matt Vierling is on fire – Detroit made a major trade on Sunday that showed things are far from rosy in the Motor City. Spencer Torkelson, the first overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft and the presumed savior of Tiger Baseball, was optioned to Triple-A after starting the season with an ugly .597 OPS.
Detroit’s rebuild, like any other, depends on the blossoming of stars. The only clear success in that regard was the emergence of starting pitcher Tarik Skubal.
Torkelson should have said that Detroit’s draft and demotion to the minor leagues is an acknowledgment that the big first baseman needs a reset. It’s hard being the face of a franchise in Toledo.
